Targeting online ads based on political demographics

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for facilitating and targeting of online ads to voters within a selected political demographic are presented. Audience targeting may be accomplished in several ways including: geo-targeting; contextual targeting; behavioral targeting; site placement; and targeted household television ads. This segment or neighborhood level targeting allows more granularity based upon, for example, hot topics and people interested in those topics based upon where populations of people live (i.e., the location of the household) and voter registration. In this manner, a candidate may delivery an ad in order to influence a select group of people in a particular location. In some embodiments, the ad is delivered by dropping and later reading a tracking cookie that associates the voter&#39;s browser with political demographic information.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application61/526,413 filed on Aug. 23, 2011, entitled “Targeting Online Ads Basedon Political Demographics,” which is incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

TECHNOLOGY FIELD

The present invention relates generally to electronic and network-basedcommunications, and more particularly to systems and methods forfacilitating targeted political advertisements on a computer network,mobile device network, and/or Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled televisionsystem.

BACKGROUND

Traditional political advertising has been done using traditional media,such as print advertising, TV, and radio. With competition for donorresources and limited funds, there remains a need for cost effectiveadvertising techniques. Importantly, campaigns for candidates or otherpolitical causes need to use ads in a cost effective manner to have animpact at the polls.

Currently, media consumption is transitioning from conventionalcommunication means—such as broadcast television and radio, print media,and postal mail—to electronic media distributed, for example, over theInternet and via electronic mail (i.e., email). However, advertisingspending continues to focus heavily on traditional communications means.Web-based and electronic communications are becoming the industrystandard for personal and business use. Increasingly, news,advertisements, business communications, personal communications, andother information (collectively hereinafter also referred to as “mediaconsumption”) are being created, stored, and transmitted electronicallyvia computing networks, such as the Internet. A computing network, asused herein, refers to a collection of desktop computers, laptopcomputers, mobile phones, handheld or mobile computing devices(collectively “personal computing device” or “computing device”)interconnected by communication channels that facilitate communicationsamong users and allows users to share resources. At work, employeesaccess such networks, along with their associated corporate computingresources from their local computing device, on a daily basis in orderto perform their jobs. Away from work, people similarly access suchnetworks and resources, typically through home, mobile, or remoteconnections. Numerous types of electronic and network connections andcommunication channels are ubiquitous in the industry and well known toone familiar with this technology and industry. For example: wired andwireless connections, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), a virtual private network (VPN), high speed connections ofvarious types, intranets, extranets, the Internet, and the like.

Online advertising often prices ads on a per impression basis, where animpression is a single instance of displaying an ad to an individual.Paying for an impression to an individual that is not registered tovote, unlikely to vote, or has likely already made up her mind on theissue, may be a wasted impression that costs the campaign preciouscapital. Furthermore, the ability to serve up individual impressions ona screen to a specific individual presents a unique opportunity andchallenge not addressed in traditional media campaigns. As such, thereremains a need to create strategies and technologies that deliverindividual advertising experiences to voters to support politicalcampaigns.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention address and overcome one or more ofthe above shortcomings and drawbacks, by providing devices, systems, andmethods that enhance the electronic and network-based delivery ofpolitical advertising. This technology is particularly well-suited for,but by no means limited to, web-based advertisement by politicalcampaigns, as well as associating politically important demographicinformation with individuals as they browse the web, without exposingpersonal identifiable information about that individual. One suchexample is associating a browser user with a cookie that includes or isassociated with political demographic information. Another such exampleis associating a unique ID of a mobile browser, such as a phone number,sim card, or hardware identifier, with political demographicinformation.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a solution that associatesgeographic and demographic data including location information with auser. Geographic data may include the following data: market, country,state, county, street, house number, Congressional District, StateLegislative District, Municipal District, zip code, census data, censusblock, latitude and longitude, GPS coordinates, cable television zone,current location, work location, home location, and the like.Demographic data may be linked or otherwise associated with thegeographic data to allow micro-targeting of segments of voters sharingone or more demographics. Demographic data may include the followingdata: voter, consumer, demographic, economic, lifestyle, behavioral, andthe like. Demographic information can also include political demographicinformation and behavioral information, including issues a user isinterested in, party registration, voting frequency or last time theperson voted, political or other websites the user has visited, browsinghistory, political or other email lists or social networks the user hasjoined.

Some embodiments also overlay the geographic and demographic data on amap to allow decision making to determine which users to target inadvertising campaigns, providing a visual reference tool to gauge howeffective targeted advertising can be or to track how effective theadvertising has been when changes in political polls are considered.Grouping of users on a map or by other criteria can be used to generatestatistics about users that meet certain filterable criteria todetermine how many people an ad will reach if targeted to a selectedmulti-dimensional demographic.

Some embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method ofgathering political demographic information from various sources,converting it to a standardized format, and associating demographicinformation with a user via a cookie, ID, or other tag when a match forthe user is found within the subscriber list of a cable television ormobile network provider, or when the user visits a first website. Whenthe user visits a second website, the tag of the user can be used toassociate the user's browser with the political demographic information,allowing impressions to be presented to the user based on the politicaldemographic information. The decision to present an impression, such asa political ad or video, can be based on filterable criteria thatinclude the political demographic information and other information. Insome embodiments, based on the filter criteria, a decision is madewhether to bid on an ad exchange and how much to bid based on whether auser's cookies meet the filterable criteria. One aspect of the inventionmay include granting access to the tag to multiple parties and websiteto allow these parties and websites to determine political demographicinformation about individuals that visit a website. This may allow usagestatistics to be gathered related to political demographic informationand allow politically relevant ads to be displayed when an individualvisits the websites. Another aspect of the present invention may includereceiving a tag associated with an individual that can be associatedwith a database of political demographic information to associate theindividual with this information. Another aspect is stripping personalidentifiable information from the cookie, such as by associating acookie ID with demographic information about the user, but not theuser's identity.

Some embodiments of the present invention provide an interface to auser, such as a campaign manager, that allows the selection ofdemographic data, voter registration data, and/or behavioral criteria toidentify multi-dimensional demographics to target with electronicadvertisements. After selection criteria have been identified, thesystem and methods can apply these criteria to match incoming requestsfor bids to serve ads on a webpage to determine whether to bid onindividual impressions. The system can then bid on impressions inreal-time for individuals that meet the criteria when these individualsvisit associated webpages. In some embodiments, the user interface is aweb page that allows users to select political districts to target withonline ads via a map interface. In some embodiments, the user interfaceallows the user to select criteria such as voter history, partyaffiliation, household income, services subscribed to, education level,age, and browsing history. In these ways, the user can select targetedcriteria to increase the influence an impression will have on a voter'sultimate decision to vote.

Formats for the advertising impression sent to individuals may includetext message, banner message, video messages, roll-over messages, textover video, video, TV commercials or streams, and the like.

According to an embodiment, a method for targeting messages to votersincludes the steps of receiving a plurality of first records for a firstgroup of voters, each including political demographic informationassociated with a first voter, and determining the likely identity ofthe first voter browsing a first website. The method further includessteps of creating a cookie that correlates a browser of the first voterto at least a subset of the political demographic information associatedwith the first voter using a processor and sending the cookie to thebrowser of the first voter across the internet. The cookie can beconfigured to allow subsequent association of the political demographicinformation with the browser at a second website.

According to one aspect, the method may further include the step ofcausing an advertisement to be transmitted to the browser when thecookie is detected at the second website or determining if the politicaldemographic information associated with the cookie matches as selecteddemographic criteria to determine whether to bid on an advertisementimpression. According to another aspect, a unique identifier of thecookie cannot be used to determine the identity of the first voter.According to yet another aspect, the method may further include the stepof creating a record of the cookie in a second group of records that canbe shared with other partners to determine which browsers correspond toselected demographic criteria. According to still another aspect, thesubset of the political demographic information may include a politicalparty associated with the first voter or at least one voting districtassociated with the first voter.

According to another embodiment, a method for displaying a message topotential voters includes the steps of receiving information from abrowser that includes at least one cookie identifier that correlates afirst set of political demographic information associated with a likelyidentity of a user of the browser with the browser and receiving asecond set of political demographic information that includesinformation for targeting advertisements to potential voters. The methodfurther includes steps of comparing the first and the second sets ofpolitical demographic information to determine a responsive set ofcookies that match the second set of political demographic criteria,receiving a request to serve an ad impression to the browser, andrequesting, automatically using a processor, display of an ad impressionto the browser if at least one of the cookies is among the responsiveset of cookies.

According to one aspect, the sets of political demographic informationmay include at least one political district or at least at a politicalparty associated with the likely identity of the user. According toanother aspect, the method may further include automatically generating,using the processor, a bid for the right to display the ad impression.

According to another embodiment, a method for targeting a message toselected potential voters includes steps of providing an electronic mapinterface configured to allow a user to select political demographiccriteria to define a target group of voters, determining a subset ofregistered voters in a database that are part of the target group, andselecting a message to display to the subset of voters. The methodfurther includes the step of automatically requesting electronic displaythe message to users of a group of electronic devices who have a likelyidentity of one of the voters in the subset of voters.

According to one aspect, the step of automatically requesting electronicdisplay of a message may include requesting display of an advertisementto a subset of cable, IPTV, mobile or satellite TV subscribers whosehousehold includes at least one member that is in the subset of voters.According to another aspect, the step of automatically requestingelectronic display of a message may include bidding on ad impressions tobe displayed on an electronic device associated with at least one memberthat is in the subset of voters. According to yet another aspect, thestep of automatically requesting electronic display of the message mayinclude requesting display of the message as an ad impression on anelectronic device, which is coupled to a cable, satellite or mobilenetwork and associated with at least one member that is in the subset ofvoters. According to still another aspect, a user of a browser on one ofthe a group of electronic devices may be identified as matching selecteddemographic criteria based on at least one tracking cookie placed on thebrowser. In yet another aspect, the electronic map interface may allow auser to select the political party affiliation of voters to target withthe message or at least one electoral criterion.

According to another embodiment, a method for targeting a message toselected potential voters includes steps of receiving a request fordisplaying one or more advertisements to a group of individuals, therequest including selected political demographic criteria to define thegroup and determining, via a processor, a subset of electronic recordsof a database that match the selected political demographic criteria.The method further includes steps of identifying at least one electronicdevice associated with the subset of electronic records and transmittingthe one or more advertisements to the electronic device.

According to one aspect, the method can further include bidding on an adexchange for ad impressions associated with a browser running on theelectronic device. According to another aspect, the step of identifyingat least one electronic device associated with the subset of electronicrecords can be performed by a cable provider and the electronic deviceis associated with at least one cable subscriber. According to yetanother aspect, the electronic device may be a set top box that isassociated with at least one household and is configured to display liveTV to viewers in the household.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be madeapparent from the following detailed description of illustrativeembodiments that proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other aspects of the present invention are bestunderstood from the following detailed description when read inconnection with the accompanying drawings. For the purpose ofillustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings embodimentsthat are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that theinvention is not limited to the specific instrumentalities disclosed.Included in the drawings are the following Figures:

FIG. 1 is timing diagram demonstrating the basic model for cookies foruse with some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a system level diagram that illustrates the variousinteractions in the advertising ecosystem used by certain embodiments ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing features of an online advertisingsystem in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an exemplary process for generating mapsfor geographic targeting of electronic advertisements;

FIG. 5A is a flow chart for creating a national voter file for use withembodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 5B-D are flow charts for using an offline database and/or anational voter file to target individuals;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing exemplary processes for processing arequest for targeting delivery of an online advertisement in accordancewith embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing exemplary processes for processing arequest for targeting delivery of an online advertisement in accordancewith embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 8 shows exemplary data sources that may be used to targetindividuals for online advertisements;

FIG. 9 shows how individuals may be arranged;

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary user interface for use with embodiments ofthe invention to assist in targeting individuals;

FIG. 11 is a sample screen that may be used by an advertiser using thenational voter file to select and target groups of voters;

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary map of voters by party;

FIG. 13 shows an exemplary map of voters by household income;

FIG. 14 shows an exemplary map of voters by African American households;

FIG. 15 shows an exemplary map of voters by Hispanic households;

FIG. 16 shows exemplary advertisements;

FIG. 17 shows an advertisement in the context of a webpage;

FIG. 18 shows exemplary banner messages for list building;

FIG. 19 shows exemplary sample video advertisements;

FIG. 20 shows exemplary Gmail advertisement for Congressman good person;

FIGS. 21A through 21B show exemplary advertisements;

FIG. 22 shows an exemplary landing page;

FIGS. 23A-23F show exemplary banner advertisements in context andplacement of the advertisement on a web site; and

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of an example computing environment in whichan example embodiment of the present invention may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The above problems in the prior art have motivated the creation ofsystems and methods for facilitating and allowing targeted delivery ofpolitical advertisements in an online ecosystem. In one embodiment, whena web-user (e.g., a potential voter) visits a website that recognizesher identity, such as a site she logs onto, the website will send taginformation (such as a tracking cookie) that contains, or is correlatedto, political demographic information (PDI), such as voting precinct,party affiliation, ethnicity, or any other demographic information thatcan be useful for targeting political ads. This demographic informationcan come from a database that include normalized PDI gathered from aplurality of sources, including voter registration lists that areavailable from almost all secretaries of state in the United States.Once the tag has been dropped on the web-user's computer, such as in thecookie store, the tag can be used to identify the political demographicof the user, generally without having to reveal the identity of theuser, when the user visits other websites, such as content websites(e.g. foxnews.com, cnn.com, etc.). At these content websites, when adsare displayed, the website will collect the web-user's tag information(or direct the web-user's browser to send the tag information to a 3rdparty ad server). An ad server component can then determine whether agiven political ad (such as a flash animation, video, or banner ad)should be served to the web user at the content website based on the PDIassociated with the tag.

Similarly, other PDI, such as gender, race, alienage, etc., may beexcluded from consideration by certain embodiments, while otherembodiments may include these classes of PDI. The term PDI should beconstrued broadly to cover demographic information about a voter thatmay be collectively relevant to a message. In some embodiments, PDIincludes at least a portion of a voter registration record, including apolitical district in which a voter is registered to vote.

In some embodiments, any personal identifiable information associatedwith a user is removed from cookie for privacy reasons.

Embodiments of the electronic and network-based advertising solutionprovide for targeting voters online, which provides improvements overconventional communications, such as direct mail, radio, or televisionwhich are untargeted to subsets of voters, because the onlineadvertisement is interactive and faster (e.g., certain aspects occurringin substantially real time). Targeting may be to potential voters or anidentifiable segment of constituents/voters. An identifiable segment ofvoters may be defined by location and/or one or more demographics. Thesedemographics can be rapidly changed or be used to define multiplesegments of voters to target with different ads. This allows faster andmore targeted ad strategies than traditional ads and mailing. Thesetechniques allow delivery in substantially real time of more dynamic andvivid ads, including interactive ads.

Audience targeting may be accomplished in several ways. For example,embodiments of the present invention may include: (1) geo-targeting(e.g., customizing messages for local preferences down to the zipcode+4, global phone, GPS coordinates, latitude/longitude, cable zone,etc.); (2) contextual targeting (e.g., placing ads in the context ofarticles that relate to an issue); (3) behavioral targeting (e.g.,delivering ads based on voters' interests and browsing activity); (4)site placement (e.g., reaching voters in the context of a source theytrust for their news and information when ads are strategically placed);(5) political demographic targeting (e.g., targeting Hispanic Republicanvoters in a hotly contested voting precinct). Embodiments of geotargeting work off the idea location, such as zip code or IP address ifcorrelated to a location, such as by using available correlators thatutilize ISP and hierarchical IP addresses to approximate or pinpoint thelocation of a voter's internet connection. When a voter connects to awebsite via a mobile device, the device's cellular location or phonenumber can be correlated to the voter's present location or to a certainbilling address when the solution is partnered with the voter's carrier.Embodiments of contextual targeting can also work off the idea ofrelevancy. The solution may scan web pages for key words, such as aperson's name, an issue, a topic, etc., in a district. When the key wordis found, an ad may be served on those pages. Political demographictargeting may utilize a database of PDI, census data, and public votingregistration records (e.g., last election voted in) to associate thedemographic information with the web browser the voter uses by taggingthe voter once his identity can be ascertained at a web site that knowshis identity, such as a web portal like Yahoo or Google or other sitesthe voter logs into, such as her bank. This tagging can be in the formof a tracking cookie, as explained below, or may be more passive fromthe voter's perspective, such as associating the voter's IP address orother identifier with the voter's PDI at a server, such that the voter'sPDI can be instantly identified when the voter visits subsequent sitesthat intend to display political advertisements, such as a content site.

Embodiments of geo targeting work off the idea location, such as zipcode or IP address if correlated to a location, such as by usingavailable correlators that utilize ISP and hierarchical IP addresses toapproximate or pinpoint the location of a voter's internet connection.When a voter connects to a website via a mobile device, the device'scellular location or phone number can be correlated to the voter'spresent location or to a certain billing address when the solution ispartnered with the voter's carrier. In the instance of an identifier,such as a cell phone number or other unique ID from a phone, a carriermay present non-traceable personal information, such as a zip code, toad partners, to assist in serving an ad impression. In some embodiments,a carrier can assist in serving messages in a given zip code (or othergeographic area) without conveying which mobile devices meet thecriteria. For example, a cellular carrier, or ISP, may present adsdirectly, and solicit requests from advertisers, which could includePACs, candidates or the like, to display ads. The carrier could thenapply filters internally to determine which devices to expose a message.

Geo-targeting can be a helpful tool for limiting ad impressions toindividuals meeting desired criteria and may be accomplished in manyways, as described herein.

Using Cookies to Identify Voters in a Demographic

In some embodiments, political demographic information (PDI) can beassociated with a voter (and her computer or browser) by using trackingcookies. Cookies are text files that can be stored on a user's computerat the instruction of a web page and can later be accessed when the userreturns to the same website or, in some cases, visits another website.Cookies allow a number of capabilities that enhance the statelessInternet experience for a web-user. A basic first party cookie allowsusers to log into a web site once and then be remembered the next timethey visit. For instance, the first party cookie enables electroniccommerce sites to offer virtual shopping carts, allowing an onlinecustomer to select more than one item as they browse paying by enteringcredit card information, only once, when they have completed theirshopping.

Cookies can also be employed in some embodiments to measure and enhancethe effectiveness of message delivery. For example, cookies can be usedto keep track of which ads a user has been exposed to, so ads can bepresented in the order and frequency the advertiser feels is most likelyto interest the user. These types of cookies are often dropped and readby third-party web sites, such as ad exchanges, that are asked toselect, verify that ads have been presented or to consolidatestatistical information on viewership patterns. For example, whenvisiting content websites, often the ads will be served by a third partysite via a redirection or inclusion, and cookies used for determiningand tracking the advertisement are sent to the third party ad server.These ads can be served in many forms including static ads andJavaScript and Flash animations.

Advertising delivery traditionally involves several different players:(a) an advertiser who wishes to place one or more advertisements beforeprospective customers or voters; (b) a publisher, such as a content website owner or service provider, that can offer an advertiser anaudience; (c) an advertising agency or exchange that arrangesadvertising placements with publishers on behalf of advertisers for afee; and, of course, (d) the consumer or voter who is exposed to theads. There is also a rapidly changing ecosystem of middlemen andinformation exchanges that offer software and services to assist in thetracking and targeting of advertisements.

Advertisers, who often pay large amounts of money for ad placements,want to track their ads and ensure these ads are targeted to the rightconsumer. In Internet advertising, there are additional methods by whichad exposures are measured and paid for, such as the number of viewerswho click on or otherwise interact with an on-line ad. For these paymentmodels to work, there must be some mechanism to collect information whenusers perform these actions. Cookies are widely used for this purpose.

One can think of the online advertising system as an ecosystem.Partnerships between sites and parties allow parties to drop cookies ona consumer's computer as she surfs the web and then view these cookieswhen she visits a site that displays an ad. These partnerships allowbidders (or at least a subset of the bidders) on an ad exchange toconsider the information contained in the cookie (or correlated with thecookie) in making the decision of whether to bid to display an ad andthe value of the impression of the ad. While a website displaying an admay lack a formal relationship with another site that drops a cookie onthe consumer's browser, relationships with third parties allow thecorrelation of information about the consumer and her cookie to ensurethat ads can be targeted to the consumer. This ensures that the mostrelevant and valuable impressions are served to the consumer when shevisits a content site. These third parties work together to drop acookie on a consumer's computer, provide access to other parties to theinformation of the cookie, access multiple cookies when a consumervisits a content site, provide an ad exchange to allow parties to bid onad placement based on the information those parties have discerned fromone or more cookies on the consumer's browser, and provide hosting andserving of ads based on the ad selected by an ad exchange or by thecontent site.

The IETF has created a standard for cookies in RFC 6265, available atietf.org and incorporated herein in its entirety. While the standarddoes not allow third party cookies, most browsers still allow thesecookies, provided that these parties have a compact privacy policy.First-party cookies are cookies set with the same domain (or itssubdomain) in your browser's address bar. Third-party cookies arecookies being set with different domains than the one shown on theaddress bar. Cookies can also be persistent, lasting on a consumer'scomputer for up to one year. These can be used to record behavioralinformation, such as websites visited recently and how the consumer cameto visit the present site.

FIG. 1 provides a basic example of how a cookie can be used to trackinformation about a consumer. Web browser 100 visits a first website atweb server 110, such as a shopping site. To get content from the server110, browser 100 sends an HTTP request 115 or the like. This includesinformation needed by web server 110 to retrieve and serve the propersite, such as a URL. At 117, the web server 110 responds with therequested page, often along with one or more cookies. These can includesimple first party cookies such that web server 110 can tell if the userof web browser 100 has visited before or has logged in before. Thesecookies can include information that can be shared with third parties,such as those with access to web server 112 to determine informationabout the user of browser 100, such as the type of webpage requestedfrom web server 110, such as an article about a political candidate.These cookies can be persistent and remain on web browser 100 formonths, until deleted by the browser or user. Subsequently, when theuser requests another page from server 110 or another server 112, webbrowser 100 sends a request and any cookies pertinent to the request,such as cookies associated with the same domain as the websiterequested. In response, server 112 responds with the requested page at127, along with any ads that have been selected in response to thecookies, such as an ad for the political candidate that appeared in thearticle previously sent to browser 100. Web server 112 can also respondwith additional cookies. It should be noted that as part of the pagereturned in response to request 125, web server 112 may redirect webbrowser to other sites or servers for a portion of the overall content,such as pictures or ads. As part of that redirection, the web browser100 will send a related request and can send cookies related to thatrequest to additional servers. Therefore, it should be appreciated thatrequest and response 125 and 127 can be iterated multiple times andinvolve more than one web server to complete the request and display acomplete page to the user of browser 100.

FIG. 2 shows an ecosystem 105 for utilizing cookies across multiple webservers and web pages in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention. In this example, a voter 102 using browser 100, accesses awebsite hosted by server 110 a. This website and/or the server, can be awebsite to which the voter is familiar. For example, the requested pagecan be a website that includes a log-in component that allows the server110 a to discern the real-world identity of the voter 102. For example,if the requested page is a page for online banking, the voter will beasked to supply login credentials. The bank has access to certainpersonal information, such as address, name, phone number, etc. The bankmay also receive cookie information that tells server 110 a moreinformation about the voter 102, such as behavior information about pastbrowsing or other cookies placed by previously visited sites.

Many sites that know the identity of the voter 102 share certaininformation with partners in accordance with a privacy policy. In thisexample, the familiar web server shares the identity of the voter 102with a trusted partner 130. In this case the partner 130 is a DataMining Provider, DMP that assists companies, such as cookie partners140, in associating their cookies, which can often be proprietary, withusers. In this example, the DMP 130 is given access to the user identityinformation, which it protects, and access to associative informationprovided by consumer records 140, which can include relationaldatabases, flat files, and the like, and can be provided by thirdparties, including advertisers 150 or third party vendors that work toprovide information that allow advertisers to target individuals meetingdesired consumer criteria. In this example, the consumer records 140includes database or flat file that has PDI for a majority of US votersto DMP 130. This PDI can include, amongst other information, voterregistration data in a normalized format to identify the age, politicalparty registration, address, age, voting precinct, etc., of the voter.The PDI can also include demographic information from surveys, censusdata, or third party providers to determine ethnicity, income level,credit scores, marital status, or other socio-economic information thatmay not be available in the voter registration data obtained from publicrecords. The DMP, in concert with the records 140 related to the voter102 identified by server 110 a, can associate the PDI with the browser100 for use in subsequent advertisements.

DMP 130 can associate the PDI with browser 100 in numerous ways,including supplying cookies to browser 100 that include PDI directly askey-value pairs in encrypted or unencrypted form. Alternatively, the PDIcan be associated with the browser 100 via a correlation with asubstantially unique identifier that is sent to the browser 100. Forexample, a cookie or cookies 118 could include a key-value pair thatgives the browser 100 a unique (or at least pseudo-unique) identifierthat can be used to look up records later when another server receivesthe cookie 118. This cookie 118 can already reside on the browser 100prior to visiting familiar server 110 a, or be dropped by the serverduring the visit. In some embodiments, the cookies dropped onto browser100 have had any personally identifiable information (PII) removed forprivacy. That is, the voter 102's name and address have been removed,but important PDI, such as voter registration and voting precinct areincluded in some form, whether directly in the cookie 118 or included byassociation with an identifier contained in the cookie 118.

In some embodiments, the PDI is associated with the voter 102 in arestricted form, such as an ID that is associated with a database, or inother forms that make access difficult or impossible for parties toaccess the PDI unless authorized by the DMP 130 or provider of consumerrecords 140. This enables the provider of consumer records 140 tolicense access to voter 102's PDI during subsequent web browsing. Thiscan provide the creator of records 140 alternative revenue streams orcan give associated advertisers 150 a distinct advantage in bidding forimpressions to serve to voters, such as voter 102.

The DMP 130 can communicate the association between cookie or cookies118 and the PDI to an ad exchange 160, which includes a digital serviceprovider (DSP) that acts as a bidding engine to help select appropriateads based on cookie information. This allows the DSP to solicit bids foran ad impression when voter 102 visits content server 112 a.

When voter 102 visits a content website (such as a news site) thecontent provider can make money by selling advertisements. To do this, aportion of the content webpage, such as an article, can include spacefor banner or flash animation advertisements. When browser 100 visitsthe content server 112 a, the browser can send cookies, including thosedropped by server 110 a or associated by DMP 130, as well as any otherappropriate cookies. When determining which ad to display for thecurrent impression, content server 112 a can reach out to exchange 160,alerting the exchange that there is an impression available. Contentserver 112 a can pass along any information about the voter 102 (or anyother consumer) to the exchange 160, including the cookies received andany user or behavior information about the voter 102, includinginformation about the current page being viewed. In some embodiments,cookies on browser 100 may include domain restrictions preventing themfrom being passed to content server 112 a. When serving a content webpage, content server 112 a can redirect browser 100 to DSP 160 (or anaffiliated server) to get content for the advertisement as the browserrenders the webpage. In this manner, exchange 160 can obtain cookiesrelated to demographic and behavioral information of voter 102 directlyfrom browser 100.

Once exchange 160 receives a request for an advertisement from contentserver 112 a and information about voter 102, exchange 160 can solicitbids for the impression from advertisers 150 via the DSP. Bids on theelectronic exchange are nearly instantaneous, taking place in a fractionof a second based on rules set up by advertisers 150. In the case wherebrowser 100 contains cookie information associated with the PDI of voter102, the DSP of the exchange 160 can use this information in the biddingprocess. The DSP has access to the PDI by synchronizing with the DMPwhen the cookie 118 was dropped on browser 100. Advertisers that areauthorized to access the PDI associated with voter 102 can use this PDIas part of the bidding process. An advertiser 150 can create multiplebidding rules for DSP 160 to follow.

For example, an advertiser may want to bid a fixed (or dynamic price) todisplay an ad for a Republican primary candidate to registeredRepublican voters in Iowa ahead of an upcoming caucus. Accordingly, thebidding rule can be to bid a fixed price on the exchange for each uniquevoter that has PDI that reveals “State=Iowa” and “RegisteredParty=Republican.” If the advertiser has an arrangement with theexchange 160 to consider cookie 118 and the associated PDI of voter 102,the DSP will apply the advertiser's rule and place a bid on the exchangein the event that the PDI of cookie if voter 102 is a Republicanresiding in Iowa. If this bid wins, the advertiser has won the right toserve the ad impression to voter 102.

Exchange 160 can then direct content server 112 a to display the adselected by the winning advertiser, which server 112 a may obtain from athird party ad server 170 that hosts the ad. This may also beaccomplished in some embodiments by redirecting browser 100 to request aspecified ad directly from ad server 170. Another cookie may be placedon the browser 100 to indicate that the voter has been shown theselected ad. The ad server 170 or content server 112 a can report to theexchange 160 that the ad has been displayed to the voter 102 for paymentprocessing.

Use Cases

In some embodiments, ads may target voters in individual districts—i.e.,the Congressional or State voting district—residing within thatdistrict. For example, an e-communication is shown only to people in acongressional district. For example, a zip code(s), or alongitude(s)/latitude(s), or a GPS location, etc. Further, the ad maymicro-target to an identifiable group or segment with a district. Thissegment or neighborhood level targeting allows more granularity basedupon, for example, hot topics and people interested (or most likely tobe interested) in those topics based upon where populations of peoplelive (i.e., the location of the household). In this manner, an ad may bedelivered to a subset of voters in order to influence a select group ofpeople in a particular location. For example, voters in a particulardistrict may be identified by zip code and an ad may be delivered to avoters online in that zip code.

This can be accomplished in a few ways. In some embodiments, when avoter logs on to a website or enters geography information associatedwith a location, a first server 110 a may drop a cookie indicating thislocation. This cookie may be dropped based on the IP address of thebrowser 100, as a database may include a correlation of IP addresses toknown locations or cable zones. When the user resurfaces at a contentsite at server 112 a, one or more cookies that relate to geographicinformation of the voter can be read by server 112 a or an affiliated adexchange 160. Advertisers can now bid on the voter based on thegeographic information. It should be appreciated that some advertiserswill view the voter receiving the impression as a consumer of somenon-political goods and may base their decision on the same or othercriteria in deciding whether to display an ad for a car, for instance.The exchanges allow political ads to be bid on the same exchange asother ads.

A message may effectively be delivered to an IP address associated witha location (home) associated with that IP address. The electronic andnetwork-based solution does not rely on personally identifiableinformation, but rather on all individuals in a finite geographic areathat share a common interest, trait, characteristic, etc. In otherwords, rather than serving a message to an individual, an electronic andnetwork-based advertising system can send it to an identifiablepopulation with a given area (e.g., one to few). This can add value byallowing voters, or segments of voters, to see relevant ad content basedon geography and/or demographics. In some embodiments, cookies that canbe correlated to demographic information, including location, are placedonto a user's browser, but the cookie contains no personal identifiableinformation, can be used to trace a user's identity.

In some embodiments, the server 112 a or ad exchange 160 can view the IPaddress of browser 100 and associate it with a location (home)associated with that IP address. This can allow serving of ads to votersin a district without using tracking cookies.

In some embodiments messages can be delivered based on location or PDIto target individual voters, an ad may target individuals in a finitegeographic area (e.g., district) that share a common interest, trait,characteristic, etc., deemed relevant to a political ad. In other words,rather than serving a political ad to an individual based on personalinformation or serving an ad to all visitors of a site, the electronicand network-based ad system can sends an ad to an identifiablepopulation with a given area (e.g., one to few). This adds value byallowing voters, or segments of voters, to see relevant political adcontent based on geography and/or demographics.

Similarly, by using information, such as a cookie or IP address, thatare not unique to a content site, messages can be shown to users ofgeneral interest. For example, content web sites (e.g., those sitesresiding on exemplary server 112 a) may be selected based upon, forexample, traffic, location, interests, demographics, etc. Examples ofsite selection may include: search (Google, Bing, Yahoo!, etc.);Facebook; national news (e.g., New York Times, Wall Street Journal,Washington Post, etc.); local news, television, radio, weather; men andwomen (e.g., All Recipes.com, MarthaStewart.com, etc.); sports; Email(Gmail); Issues (e.g., healthcare, energy, economy, or industries ofinterest or importance to a particular district) to name a few. Sitesmay be selected from one or more site lists.

The output of the electronic and network-based advertising system 105may include a complete reporting package. For example, these may includeimpressions and clicks by site, and click through to a candidate'sofficial site. Also, conversions, such as email, newsletters, town hallsign ups, and the like may be tracked.

Ad Targeting System

With reference now to FIG. 3, there is shown an ad targeting system 200for implementing an embodiment of electronic and network-based adtargeting system. As shown in FIG. 1, the system 200 includes datasources DS₁-DS_(n), a decision server 210 that receives data and otherinformation from the data sources DS₁-DS_(n), an output for sending dataand other information generated by the server to one or more ad ormessage servers AS₁-AS_(n), and one or more districts of votersD₁-D_(n). This topology allows scalability and multiple data sources andad partners for targeting voters. The voting population and geographicregions may be further defined by one or more segments S₁-S_(n). Asegment includes an identifiable subset of voters. The decision servermay include a processor 12 and database 14 for processing and storingthe data.

The ad targeting system can include a map and map building function toinclude location, as shown in FIG. 4. At step 402, mapping informationis received. The map is a visual representation of a geographic area ofinterest and includes location information. For example, country, state,county, city or town, street, house number, etc. Pre-existing mappingsoftware may be used for mapping. In one embodiment, Google Maps or BingMaps, web mapping service application and technology provided by Googleor Microsoft, respectively, may be used for the map and locationinformation. At step 404, District (e.g., congressional, senate, statelegislative or senatorial districts, ward, precincts, etc.) informationmay be overlaid on the map. This information may include, for example,zip code(s), latitude and longitude, GPS coordinate(s) information,cable zones, etc. As such, congressional districts are mappedelectronically. At step 406 Census data, including residence andhousehold information, may also be overlaid on the map to identify andshow where residents live within a district. The geographic informationmay also include latitude and longitude for each congressional district.Further, the address of computing devices (e.g., the IP address) is alsocollected and overlaid on the map. The IP address data may be collectedfrom the geographic latitude and longitude data, which basicallycomprises an IP address map of every IP address in a given area.

The census data currently includes at its core approximately eightmillion census blocks. In some embodiments, the electronic network-basedsolution arranges the census data in larger blocks—e.g., 34,000 largerblocks that sit on top of the mapping, district, and base censusinformation. In some embodiments, each larger block includesapproximately 2,500 people. One reason for regrouping the census data isto make the solution and message delivery more manageable. In someembodiments, message targeting may be based on either zip code, cabletelevision zone, or a Direct Marketing Area (DMA). A cable televisionzone is a unit that defines the individual households served by a cabletelevision provider in a given geography. By using a DMA or cable zone,online ad campaigns can be combined with TV advertising to add value totraditional advertising packaging. DMA is a standard used in advertisingand typically includes a predefined area around a power station (e.g., a75 mile radius around a broadcast tower for television) or houses withina cable subscriber zone. By using a DMA, online ad campaigns can becombined with TV advertising to add value to traditional advertisingpackaging. This standard for broadcast targeting has also been adoptedto some degree in Internet advertising and communications. Cablecompanies maintain they own DMAs, such as the DMA for a givenmunicipality or nearby municipalities. These areas may include portionsthat are in multiple Congressional districts, or cross other politicalboundaries. However, because each cable provider can control individualconnections within its DMA (e.g., only proving active connections tosubscriber drops that are in good standing), a cable provider can selectindividual households, or groups of households, to display an ad onlineor via TV, based on the known physical location of each broadbandconnection.

Voter registration information may also be included. Voter registrationinformation may be useful for micro-targeting a segment within adistrict based on, for example, party registration or other voterregistration information that is available from voter records that maybe available from the secretary of state for a given state. Thisinformation may include, for example, the party affiliation, the votingprecinct and polling place, the age, frequency of participation inelections, years registered, marital status, etc. It will be understoodthat each state's voter registration is different, includes differentinformation, and is presented in different formats. Where the voterregistration is presented in a digital form, the registration can bereformatted and copied into a normalized format.

FIG. 5A illustrates an embodiment of a method for creating a nationalvoter file (NVF) for use with embodiments of the present invention. Atstep 501, voter registration records are received, which can be obtainedfrom various government record authorities, such as secretaries ofstate. These records do not all contain the same fields, such as age,zip-code, etc., or may refer to these fields in different ways. Inaddition, the electronic format used by each state may not be the same.In some embodiments, other offline databases, not just voterregistration, can be used. For example, a holder of a mailing list ofpeople can make this mailing list available to introduce a cookie intothe advertising environment that reflects membership and/or attributesof persons on that mailing list. Accordingly, at step 503, each recordfor each individual voter is normalized and copied as a record in theNVF. To accomplish this, the fields from the state-supplied data can bemapped, such as by schema, to normalized record fields in the NVF.Accordingly, each voter receives an entry in a normalized format,regardless of the format used by that voter's secretary of state.Additionally, the data in these files can be cleaned and formatted, suchas by character mapping, schema, dictionaries, or the like. This caninclude padding missing fields in the record.

At step 505, any missing fields in the new record of the NVF isdetermined, and appropriate action, such as supplying a default value orpadding the field with a null or zero value. Additionally, at step 505,values not explicitly in the record supplied by the state can be added,such as by a lookup table. For example, a State value can be suppliedbased on the state authority that supplied the original record; a votingprecinct can reveal a zip code, etc. This record provides the basicpolitical demographic information (PDI) record for an individual. ThisPDI can include the location, such as a residence, address, zip-code,etc., of the individual.

At step 507, third party data can be obtained to supplement the recordsin the NVF. In some embodiments, this includes census data that includesthe address and zip code of a plurality of voters. In some embodiments,this data may include socio-economic or behavioral information thatother vendors can supply. This can be through access to consumerdatabases, cookies, or other conventional means. At step 509, recordsare updated to reflect any new field information that has is availablefor the record. Any new fields that are absent for an individual voterare padded in accordance with step 505. In some embodiments, this thirdparty data can be used without including it in the NVF. For example, insome embodiments, one can lease access to third party cookies, such thatthe correlation of NVF and third party information can be made by thepresence of NVF cookie 118 and a third party cookie on the voter'scomputer. At step 512, the NVF is introduced into the advertisingecosystem explained in FIG. 2. The NVF can be treated similar to otherconsumer records 140 and the PDI can be made available to advertisersthat partner with the keeper of the NVF. This can includeproviding/transmitting/making the records available to a DMP forassociation with a cookie used to later associate a voter's browser withthe PDI.

FIG. 5B shows a higher level illustration of the use of offline databaseinformation, such as voter registration information. To begin, thesystem takes an offline voter file or a member list at step 522. Thisdata can be made part of an NVF. Once the NVF is created, a DMP or otherparty that knows the identity of a person browsing the web, such as avoter can be used at step 524. This DMP matches the list or NVF to theidentity of the person browsing. This person can be called the user ofthe web browser. It should be appreciated that the user of a browser caninclude a household, as the actual identity of a person using a browserat any moment may not be knowable. Furthermore, the identity of the usermay not be absolutely knowable, as a user can be identified by computerinformation and/or login information, which can be shared, stolen, orusurped. Accordingly, it should be understood that the identity of auser may refer to the likely identity of a user. The association of abrowser to user information can be done anonymously such that the restof the ecosystem, including a DSP and the supplier of the list do notactually learn the identity of the web user. That is, demographicinformation about the user, such as political affiliation, or othernon-personally identifiable information from the record is matched tothe ID of a tag, such as a cookie, that is provided or affiliated withthe user's web browser or computer. The association of that ID or tag tothe demographic information can then be shared with other parties in theecosystem without revealing personally identifiable information. Thatis, the data matching partner, such as a DMP, informs other parties thatthe person is on a list or has certain demographic attributes, but doesnot reveal that person's identity as she browses the web. This allowsadvertisers to use that association to easily identify whether a personmeets demographic criteria and target ads to them without knowing thatperson's identity. This process is shown in more detail in FIG. 5C.

The data matching partner, such as a DMP, informs other parties that theperson is on a list or has certain demographic attributes, but does notreveal that person's identity as she browses the web. This allowsadvertisers to use that association to easily identify whether a personmeets demographic criteria and target ads to them without knowing thatperson's identity. In some embodiments, this step includes placing acookie on a user machine having a unique ID that can be looked up byadvertising partners to reveal PDI, such as the user's CongressionalDistrict, but not personal identifiable information. In someembodiments, each browser for which a DMP can find an entry in the NVFreceives a cookie that the DMP associates with the entry in the NVF. Insome embodiments, the DMP creates a new entry for the cookie ID, andcorrelates it with a group of non-personally identifiable demographicinformation, such as district and age.

At step 526, when a user's browser visits a content website associatedwith a data matching partner having access to the cookie, the datamatching partner (DMP) will inform the ecosystem that a browser has acookie associated with the NVF. In some embodiments, the data matchingpartner performs a step to apply an advertiser's selected criteria fromthe NVF to create a list of cookie IDs that match, before a user's adimpression becomes available for bidding. The advertiser that wishes tothen bid on the ad impression to serve an ad, needs only to check thepredetermination by the DMP. In some embodiments, the DMP can checkwhether the user matches the criteria for candidates of the ad bylooking up demographic information from the cookie ID at the time of thead impression. In these manners, a data matching partner allows ads tobe sent to users based on whether that user's demographic informationmatches an ad's filter criteria, without telling the advertiser who theuser is, or delivering any personal information. For example, in theexample shown in FIG. 5B, users residing in the 6^(th) district arematched by the data matching partner. A vendor wishes to bid on an adimpression for impressions that meet the message criteria to selectivelydisplay the advertising message. The DMP can maintain a list of allcookies that match the criteria. At step 528, when individuals match thelist of cookies meeting the filter criteria, a vendor can bid on theadvertising impression available for a browser having that cookie andvisiting a content website. At that time, a message can be served by acontent site. This process is shown in detail in FIG. 5D.

As shown in FIG. 5C, a DMP can place a cookie on a voter's browser toallow subsequent advertisements, to be displayed to the voter. At step532, the DMP receives the NVF or other records that associate theidentity of individual constituents/voters to the PDI for eachconstituent/voter. At step 534, the DMP determines the likely identityof a visitor to a first website. For example, the DMP can determinebased on login information, the likely identity of a voter, such as hisname and address. At step 535, the identity of the voter visiting thefirst website is compared to the NVF or other records to match recordsto the voter at the website. This allows an association of the visitorwith the PDI in the records.

At step 536, the DMP creates a tracking cookie to send to the voter'sbrowser, who is visiting the first website. This cookie can be used toassociate the voter's browser to the PDI of the voter (or a subsetthereof). This subset of PDI can include any PDI, but in someembodiments, it includes at least the voting district of the voterand/or the location of the voter. This cookie includes a unique ID thatcan be used to look up the associated PDI when the cookie appears at asecond website. In some embodiments, the identity (or other personalidentifiable information) is not associated with the cookie ID.Therefore, the cookie cannot be used to determine the identity of thevoter. It will be appreciated that some embodiments could becontemplated that include such an association—where allowed by law. Atstep 538, the tracking cookie is sent to the browser of thevoter/visitor.

At step 540, the DMP creates an association between the cookie ID andthe PDI of the voter. This can include a record in a database. At step542, the association of cookie ID and PDI is shared with partneradvertisers. This can include sharing a database with partners thatinclude a record for each cookie ID and the PDI as fields in the record.

At step 544, partners can use the cookie ID of a browser to look up theassociated PDI when the tracking cookie appears on a browser visiting ata second website. Then, an ad message can be displayed to that visitorat the second website.

As shown in FIG. 5D, at a second website, such as a content website, anad partner can display a message to a voter that visits that websitebased on cookie information or the location of the browser of the voter.At steps 552, if the browser of a visitor includes a cookie, such asthat discussed with respect to FIGS. 5A-C that can be correlated to PDIof the browsing voter, the cookie is sent to the second website. Thiscookie can include cookie information, such as a unique cookie ID thatcorrelates to associated PDI, as described in step 540, which maypreviously have been performed by a DMP at a first website. This cookieinformation can be sent to a matching partner, such as a DSP. The PDIassociated with the cookie can be called a first set of PDI. This can beobtained by looking up the record for the cookie on the visitor'sbrowser.

At step 554, the second website (or DSP) receives the desired PDI fortargeting voters. This desired PDI can be called a second set of PDI. Itmay be provided by an advertiser and include information, such as thevoting district of targeted voters.

In some embodiments, at step 555, the second website identifies thecurrent location of a voter browser visiting the website. This canprovide alternative means to match a visitor to the targeted votersidentified by the second set of PDI. For example, the IP address of thebrowser or phone number of a mobile device can be used to associate thevisitor with residing in a certain voting district. In some embodiments,where a voter is browsing via a mobile device, such as a smart phone,equipped with GPS, the GPS can be used to determine location, includingthe current district in which the mobile device is located. This canalso be considered part of the first set of PDI, or an alternative set,in some embodiments.

At step 556, the first and second sets of PDI are compared. In someembodiments, only visitors that match all selected PDI in the second setwill be candidates for receiving an advertising message. In someembodiments, PDI beyond voting district can be used to choose a biddingprice rule for bidding on an ad impression. At step 558, if the firstset of PDI (the PDI associated with a visitor) matches the second set ofPDI (the PDI criteria chosen by an advertiser for displaying an ad), anad impression on the second website matches the ad message criteria. Insome embodiments, the result of the matching step will cause a bid to beplaced on an ad exchange to bid a determined price for displaying the admessage to the voter visiting the second site. In some embodiments,there are degrees of matching that reflect whether the two sets of PDIare a complete or partial match. The degree of the match can affect thedetermined price to bid on the ad impression.

At step 560, an ad message is caused to be displayed to a user viawell-known means for internet advertising, such as including the ad inthe data sent to a browser when a web page is loaded. In someembodiments, step 560 only occurs if a bid is successful on an adexchange. It can be said that the message is displayed based on theresult of the comparison step 558 (e.g., if no bidding occurs or if thebid triggered by the match is successful on an ad exchange.)

FIGS. 6 and 7 show exemplary processes for generating and deliveringtargeted electronic and network-based advertisements. In someembodiments, targeting may be one to few based on geography. In someembodiments, targeting may be one to few based on geography anddemographics. As shown in FIG. 6, at step 602 a request from anadvertising client, such as a candidate, may be received. At step 504the criteria (e.g., geographic and/or demographic) to be solved for areidentified. At step 606, based on the criteria, the voters, or segmentof voters will be identified by the method using the mappeddata/information and the parameters of the ad request. The result ofthis step can be conveyed to a developer of the message via a heatmapping tool, explained below. In response to a query of demographiccriteria, the heat map tool can show visually the segment of thehouseholds that match the selected criteria. In some embodiments, adeveloper of a message can quickly guess-and-check between steps 604 and606 iteratively to find the right mix of criteria for the message. Anadvertisement is developed. For example, the content, format, layout,message, etc., are determined. The website(s) to which the online adwill be delivered will be identified or selected. In some embodiments,the website selected to be used for the ad can be a website that isselected for a high incidence of traffic meeting the selected PDIcriteria, such as a local newspaper. This selection can be automated byrunning a comparison of the selected criteria of individuals who shouldbe shown the ad to traffic statistics from a partner website. Forexample, it may be automatically determined that a site such ashuffingtonpost.com see less cookies meeting criteria for voters targetedby a Republican candidate than, for example, drudgereport.com. Thisstatistical information can be provided by a DSP.

At step 608, once demographic criteria are decided, a message isdeveloped. At step 610, the website(s) to which the online message willbe delivered will be identified or selected. In some embodiments, thewebsite selected to be used for the ad/message can be a website that isselected for a high incidence of traffic meeting the selected PDIcriteria, such as a local newspaper. This selection can be automated byrunning a comparison of the selected criteria of individuals who shouldbe shown the message to traffic statistics from a partner website. Thisstatistical information can be provided by a DSP.

In some embodiments, once a message is developed, bidding for deliveryof the message on online ad exchanges can occur, as many times as themessage will be served.

At step 612, real time bidding may occur to determine a price forserving the ad as part of a single or multiple advertising impressionpackages on a website, such as a new page. If a price is agreed upon(e.g., the advertiser wins the bid to serve an individual impression ina real-time auction or an agreement before the site begins displayingads), the advertisement is delivered to a voter's browser at step 614.If a price is not agreed to, then no action is taken message is notserved at step 615. Step 612 can then repeat for each advertisingimpression that matches the selected criteria and the ad is not served.The ad may be delivered, for example, over the Internet, via HTTP. Withadvertisements, instructions and graphics/audio may be delivered to orpre-stored on an advertisement server to deliver the advertisement. Theintermediate steps are not required to be performed in any particularorder.

FIG. 7 shows another process for micro-targeting to match demographics(e.g., voter demographics) in the various data sets to active Internetcookies. This type of targeting is one to one. As shown in FIG. 7, theprocess may include matching the data set in the NVF or the preselectedcriteria to active Internet cookies on browser 100 (step 702). Personalidentifiable information may be stripped out at step 704. At step 706,select demographic attributes/PDI may be identified in the cookies thatwill be targeted. At step 710: an electronic ad may be developed. Atstep 712, the site is identified or selected for serving and displayingthe ad and the ad may be delivered/served. In some embodiments, cookiesmay be matched to data, such as geographic or PDI data. In someembodiments, cookies are anonymous and do not contains any personalidentifiable information.

The use of cookies in certain embodiments allows for serving ads one toone based upon demographic revealed in the cookie. As explainedthroughout, a cookie may be dropped or installed on a voter's personalcomputing device when that person visits a particular site. The cookiedata and this on-line tracking may then be used to identify/definedemographic(s) for the targeted serving of ads. The system and methodmay monitor a site to wait for the person with certain demographics toshow up (e.g., visit the site). Real time bidding in the display oradvertising business may ensue in which if a bid is won an advertisementis displayed. For example, a decision tree may be included to allow realtime bidding on an ad unit on a web-site (e.g., Weather.com). If theright person (based on PDI) in the right location (geography) isidentified, a real time bidding process determines whether an ad will beserved. Political ads may be bidding against, for example, ads forpersonal care products.

Embodiments of the invention may use different cookies. For example,tracking cookies and re-targeting cookies. In some embodiments, thecookie is a tracking cookie and is merely used to identify that a voterhas visited a particular site, and that's it. This type of cookie may beused for list building so that the next time an ad impression isavailable for this voter, ads may be chosen more efficiently. Forexample, if X number of people visit the site of a candidate's site, theadvertiser may choose to only target political ads to those people. Forexample, Y number of people visited a site on a particular issue, theadvertiser may choose to only target political ads to those people

FIG. 8 shows exemplary data sources DS₁-DS_(n). Data and otherinformation included in the data sources may be used for data drivenadvocacy. The advertising system is used to match a message, target anddelivery channel for maximum efficiency in an online ad campaign. Asshown in FIG. 8, the data sources may include an electoral data sourceDS₁, a consumer data source DS₂, a social data source, DS₃, ademographic data source DS₄, an economic data source DS₅, an intent datasource DS₆, a lifestyle data source DS₇, a behavior data source DS₈ anda geographic data source DS₉. The electoral data source DS₁ may include,for example, information such as vote frequency, partisanship, age,gender, issue identification, volunteer, contributor, and the like. Theconsumer data source DS₂ may include, for example, information such ascredit lines—premium/specialty, household income/wealth, investorcapacity, etc. The social data source DS₃ may include informationderived from a social media website such as Facebook or LinkedIn. Thedemographic data source DS₄ may include, for example, information suchage/life style, occupation, presence of children, ethnicity, householdcomposition, etc. The economic data source DS₅ may include, for example,information such as home value, home equity, financing type, net worth,head of household income, and the like. The intent data source DS₆ mayinclude, for example, information such as search term histories, websitebrowsing patterns, and the like. The lifestyle data source DS₇ mayinclude, for example, information such as purchasing patterns, onlineactivity, market channel responsiveness, affinity groups, etc. Thebehavioral data source DS₈ may include, for example, information such ascharitable giving, employer, avocation, interests, etc. The geographicdata source DS₉ may include, for example, zip codes, latitude/longitude,census blocks and tracts, cable zones, DMA and radio zones, etc. Thesedata sources can be obtained and formatted as explained with referenceto FIG. 5A and conglomerated in the NVF.

FIG. 9 shows further features of targeting messages to voters. As shownin FIG. 9, the individuals in the target universe may be arranged asdesired, and in any way necessary. For example, as shown the individualsmay be arranged by demographic data and geographic data. The demographicdata was described above with reference to FIG. 8. As shown, thegeographic data may include or be defined by market, state, county,congressional district, state legislative district, zip code, censusblock, etc. The geographic data may all be mapped, as described aboveand as shown below with reference to FIGS. 12-15. The demographic data,such as PDI, is linked or associated with the geographic data. Theadvertising system allows micro-targeting of voters in a district or asegment sharing one or more demographics. An ad is delivered in aselected format via a selected communication channel to one or moreselected sites. Geographic data can include GPS coordinates of voters.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary interface for selecting the criteria fortargeting voters, including a map to select location. Criteria caninclude location, party, whether the voter voted in the primary, donorstatus, gender, age and date of birth, income level, ethnicity,religion, education level, marital status, and number of children in ahousehold. It will be appreciated that each of these available criteriaare optional depending on the embodiment. For example, many embodimentsdo not include party or donor status to avoid partisan ethics issues.

As shown in FIG. 11, a web based map interface allows targeting to beperformed on a many user selectable levels, allowing the user (i.e., theperson designing the message) to zoom in and select any number ofgeographic criteria. As shown, targeting can be by state, congressionaldistrict within a state, state senate/house boundaries, city, township,borough, town council district, school district/sub-district, taxassessment district, or democratic polling zone. In addition, any numberof PDI criteria can be selected depending on the embodiment, within thegeographic bounds selected to increase targeting. This can result in thedisplay of a heat map that indicates the effectiveness of targetingwithin a region, such as color coding that shows numbers or percentagesof people being targeted within a region. When fully zoomed, theeffectiveness of the PDI criteria selected can be viewed on a block orhousehold level (where based on publicly available information, such asvoter registration data, census data, and opt-in reporting).

As shown in FIG. 11, the developer of an ad can select 1) locationinformation including state, zip, precinct, etc. In some embodiments,the developer of an ad can also select one or more of 1) socio-politicaldemographic information such as party, gender, age, religion, ethnicity,and absentee status; 2) voting history, including which elections avoter has voted and frequency of voting; 3) other voter politicalinformation that may be available, such as union affiliation, donorstatus, membership in active groups, etc.; and 4) personal demographicinformation, such as likelihood to invest, causes to which the voterbelongs, political interests such as the environment, family status,such as having kids, an occupation, or other information that may beavailable from third party data sources based on information collectedfrom other online sites. Selecting this information can allow thedisplay of heat maps or the selection of criteria for selecting an ad tobe displayed to individuals meeting the criteria. In some embodiments,this interface can be presented to a user via a web portal

FIG. 12 shows one example of a map generated by the present inventionshowing a voter heat map for Florida—11^(th) District with voters byparty and strength of affiliation with the party. This politicalinformation could be used for other related systems, including, forexample local officials or used for political campaigns. Many otherpossible PDI criteria can be excluded from the NVF and the targetingtool, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion, to avoiddiscrimination or even the appearance that the system could be used fordiscrimination. Meanwhile, some embodiments recognize the importance ofusing PDI to target relevant voters, such as gender or race.

FIG. 12 shows one example of a map generated by the present inventionshowing a campaign heat map for Florida—11^(th) District with voters byparty and strength of affiliation with the party. FIG. 13 shows anotherexample of map generated by the advertising system showing a campaignheat map for Florida—11^(th) District with head of household incomeranges. FIG. 14 shows one example of map generated by the presentinvention showing a campaign heat map for Florida—11^(th) District forAfrican American households and FIG. 15 shows Hispanic households forthe same district.

As shown in FIG. 16, message/advertisement may be output or delivered invarious forms or formats, such as text, banners, video, text over video,etc. Banners, for example, may come in various shapes, sizes, andorientations and may be customized based upon the message content, wherethe banner will be place in a website, etc. For example, banneradvertisements may be square or rectangular shaped. For example, banneradvertisements may be 300×250; 728×90; 128×600; etc. (width×height) witha substantially horizontal or vertical orientation.

The advertising system allows for flexible messaging. FIG. 17illustrates an example of an ad within the context of a page. In thisexample, a news item for an incumbent can result in the display of an adfor his opponent. This can be done by selecting keywords for pages todisplay appropriate ads.

As shown in FIG. 18, the advertising system may also be used for listbuilding. As shown, a banner may be selected or developed, a site may beselected, the banner is delivered, the banner may include a sign upfeature, interested users viewing the banner message may select to signup, and the sign up process involved the users providing certaininformation, such as personal or identity information and contactinformation. Personal or identity information may include, for example,name, address, gender, race, occupation, income range, politicalaffiliation or party, hobbies, interests, and the like. Contactinformation may include address, email address, IP address, telephonenumber, and the like. Signing up may allow the user to electronicallyfollow a candidate, or issue or cause. When a user signs up, theinformation provided by the user may be used to build an email list, forexample, for the candidate. The email list may be used at a later dateto target the user based on the user information submitted. In otherembodiments, the user may friend the candidate on Facebook. The systemmay also provide metrics to measure the effectiveness and use of theads. For example, it may measure how many people view an ad perimpression, when users click on an ad and go to a particular site, howmany people sign up to a site, etc. Standard techniques for measuringimpressions, clicks, etc. may be used.

FIG. 19 shows an example of placing advertisements into videos that areviewed online, such as Youtube.com videos. Video ads can be displayedbefore, after, or during the viewing of other video content. FIG. 20shows an exemplary Gmail search. Embodiments of the present inventionmay use key words and text advertisement help ensure link to the properpage of a candidate's official web site.

FIGS. 21A and 21B show exemplary advertisement. FIG. 21A shows anexemplary contextual advertisement on The New York Times Science webpage (e.g., national news). FIG. 21B shows an exemplary geo/contextualadvertisement on the Fort Worth Gas Price web page (e.g., local news).

FIG. 22 shows an exemplary landing page. For example, when a voterclicks on an advertisement, it calls up the landing page relevant tothat advertisement. The illustrated landing page is for U.S. CongressmanMcKeon from the 25^(th) district of California and includes academynominations and an email sign-up feature.

FIGS. 23A-23F show exemplary banner advertisements in context andplacement of the advertisement on a web site. For example, FIG. 23Ashows a contextual banner advertisement on the side of a web pageadvertising a candidate's position on a certain newsworthy topic. Forexample, FIG. 23B shows a fundraising banner advertisement on the rightside of the web page of a conservative news website. For example, FIG.23C shows an in-banner video advertisement targeted to mothers on theright side of the web page for CBSAtlanta.com Storm Tracker. Forexample, FIG. 23D shows a site placement advertisement placed on theReal Clear Politics site. For example, FIG. 23E shows a geo centerbanner advertisement for Congresswoman Foxx for military academynominations across the top of the web page for Fox 8. For example, FIG.23F shows a geo banner advertisement placed on the Chicago Cubs Onlinesite inviting the viewer to join Congressman Roskam for a telephone townhall to discuss the issue of healthcare reform.

Embodiments may be used beyond displaying ad impressions on theInternet. Some embodiments are suitable for use with selectivelydisplaying other ads, such as television commercials to targeted voters.Whereas traditional broadcast television limits the ability to targetindividual viewers because content, including commercials, is broadcastto all viewers in a cable zone or broadcast area, the present inventioncan work with cable systems to distribute content to individualhouseholds.

In some embodiments, the NVF content can be used by an IPTV system. IPTVallows television content to be transmitted across an IP network, suchas a cable company's subscriber network to individual IP-enableddevices, such as set top boxes. IPTV can allow on-demand or live TVcontent to be selectively sent to individual subscribers. Content can bedistributed to users via IP unicast or multicast streams. A set top boxcan be configured to selectively receive one or more of these streams.For instance, for on-demand content, a set top box can selectivelyreceive a unicast stream that includes the on-demand TV show and anycommercials selected to be displayed to the subscriber. The set top boxcan communicate with one or more content servers to request a stream inresponse to a user selection, such as selecting a channel or movie via aremote control. Similarly, for live TV, each channel can be transmittedas one or more multicast streams. Multiple households may view the samemulticast stream or different streams, (or unicast streams). As usedherein, a set top box is any devices that may access an audio or videostream and display the content to a user, such as display via atelevision. This may include cable boxes, videogame consoles withsuitable software, digital media receivers, etc. These will beunderstood as examples of end-user electronic devices that can consumecontent and display an ad to a user of the end-user electronic device,which may be suitable for use with some embodiments.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, multiple streams may be used to createa viewing experience for a viewer. For instance, live TV may betransmitted to multiple households via a multicast stream. Then, whencommercials should be displayed, the set top box may receive anothermulticast or unicast stream. This can allow different households viewingthe same TV stream to be presented with different commercials. ARepublican household may see a different ad than a Democrat household.These embodiments may identify the set top box by a unique ID or IPaddress that a cable/TV provider can associate with the household. Thiscan enable the cable/TV provider to target individual households basedon the subscriber's set top (or other electronic device that thesubscriber uses to access video content). It should be appreciated thatsome embodiments may utilize non-IPTV distribution methods where a cableprovider has a network suitable to selectively sending content toelectronic devices (e.g. set top boxes) associated with individualhouseholds or clients.

In embodiments that have a means for selectively sending ads tohouseholds and set top boxes, the systems and methods used herein can beused to selectively target these households using the content of thevoter file. Cable/TV providers can partner with entities that utilizethe voter file to select households based on political demographicinformation. Once the households are selected using the methodsdescribed herein, the Cable/TV provider can use its distribution networkto serve selected ads to set top boxes (or other electronic devices) forthose selected households. Similarly, the cable/TV provider can receiveinformation from the voter file that allows the provider to populatesubscriber records with information from the voter file. For example,the subscriber records of the cable/TV provider can include entries forsubscribers that contain political demographic information thecorresponds to the subscriber's household. The cable/TV provider canthen allow advertisers to select criteria for selecting which householdsto target with an ad. This can include a first set of politicaldemographic to match to subscribers. Those households matching the setof political demographic can receive the ad via one or more set topboxes during regular commercial slots or via any other advertisementmethod, such as banner ads displayed to a user while displaying a menuor schedule.

It should be understood that ads may be presented to users of anysuitable electronic device, such as a computer accessing a website, aset top box displaying television streams to a TV, mobile phonesaccessing a network, and the like.

FIG. 24 illustrates an exemplary computing environment 2100 within whichembodiments of the invention may be implemented. Computing environment2100 may include computer system 2110. Computer system 2110 is oneexample of a general purpose computing system upon which embodiments ofthe invention may be implemented. Computers and computing environments,such as computer 2110 and computing environment 2100 are known to thoseof skill in the art and thus are described briefly here.

As shown in FIG. 24, the computer system 2110 may include a bus 2121 orother communication mechanism for communicating information, and aprocessor 2120 coupled with the bus 2121 for processing the information.The computer system 2101 may also include a system memory 2130 coupledto the bus 2121 for storing information and instructions to be executedby processor 2120.

The system memory 2130 may include computer storage media in the form ofvolatile and/or nonvolatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM) 2131and/or random access memory (RAM) 2132. The system memory RAM 2132 mayinclude other dynamic storage device(s) (e.g., dynamic RAM (DRAM),static RAM (SRAM), and synchronous DRAM (SDRAM). The system memory ROM2131 may include other static storage device(s) (e.g., programmable ROM(PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), and electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM).In addition, the main memory 2130 may be used for storing temporaryvariables or other intermediate information during the execution ofinstructions by the processor 2120.

A basic input/output system 2133 (BIOS) containing the basic routinesthat help to transfer information between elements within computer 2110,such as during start-up, may be stored in ROM 2131. RAM 2132 may containdata and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/orpresently being operated on by central processing unit 2120. Systemmemory 2130 additionally may include, for example, operating system2134, application programs 2135, other program modules 2136 and programdata 2137.

The computer system 2110 also includes a disk controller 2140 coupled tothe bus 2121 to control one or more storage devices for storinginformation and instructions, such as a magnetic hard disk 2141, aremovable media drive 2142 (e.g., floppy disk drive, read-only compactdisc drive, read/write compact disc drive, compact disc jukebox, tapedrive, and removable magneto-optical drive). The storage devices may beadded to the computer system 2110 using an appropriate device interface(e.g., a small computer system interface (SCSI), integrated deviceelectronics (IDE), enhanced-IDE (E-IDE), direct memory access (DMA), orultra-DMA.

The computer system 2110 may also include special purpose logic devices(e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)) or configurablelogic devices (e.g., simple programmable logic devices (SPLDs), complexprogrammable logic devices (CPLDs), and field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs)).

The computer system 2110 may also include a display controller 2165coupled to the bus 121 to control a display or monitor 2165, such as acathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display (LCD), for displayinginformation to a computer user. The computer system includes an inputinterface 2160 and one or more input devices, such as a keyboard 2161and a pointing device 2162, for interacting with a computer user andproviding information to the processor 2120. The pointing device 2162,for example, may be a mouse, a trackball, or a pointing stick forcommunicating direction information and command selections to theprocessor 120 and for controlling cursor movement on the display 2166.In addition, a printer may provide printed listings of data storedand/or generated by the computer system 2110.

The computer system 2110 may perform a portion or all of the processingsteps of embodiments of the invention in response to the processor 2120executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained ina memory, such as the system memory 2130. Such instructions may be readinto the system memory 2130 from another computer readable medium, suchas a hard disk 2141 or a removable media drive 2142. The hard disk 2141may contain one or more datastores and data files used by embodiments ofthe advertising system. Datastore contents and data files may beencrypted to improve security. One or more processors in amulti-processing arrangement may also be employed to execute the one ormore sequences of instructions contained in system memory 2130. Inalternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of orin combination with software instructions. Thus, embodiments are notlimited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

As stated above, the computer system 2110 may include at least onecomputer readable medium or memory for holding instructions programmedaccording embodiments of the invention and for containing datastructures, tables, records, or other data described herein.Non-limiting examples of computer readable media include hard disks,floppy disks, tape, magneto-optical disks, PROMs (EPROM, EEPROM, flashEPROM), DRAM SRAM, SDRAM, or any other magnetic medium, compact discs(e.g., CD-ROM), or any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, orother physical medium with patterns of holes, a carrier wave (describedbelow), or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions.

Stored on any one or on a combination of computer readable media,embodiments of the present invention include software for controllingthe computer system 2110, for driving a device or devices forimplementing the invention, and for enabling the computer system 2110 tointeract with a human user. Such software may include, but is notlimited to, device drivers, operating systems, development tools, andapplications software. Such computer readable media further comprises acomputer program product for performing all or a portion (if processingis distributed) of the processing performed in implementing embodimentsof the invention.

Components of the computer system 2110 which interpret one or moresequences of instructions may be any interpretable or executable codecomponent including, but not limited to, scripts, interpretableprograms, dynamic link libraries (DLLs), Java classes, and completeexecutable programs. Moreover, parts of the processing of the presentinvention may be distributed for better performance, reliability, and/orcost.

The term “computer readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediumthat participates in providing instructions to the processor 2120 forexecution. A computer readable medium may take many forms including, butnot limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmissionmedia. Non-limiting examples of non-volatile media include optical,magnetic disks, and magneto-optical disks, such as hard disk 2141 orremovable media drive 2142. Non-limiting examples of volatile mediainclude dynamic memory, such as system memory 2130. Non-limitingexamples of transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire, andfiber optics, including the wires that make up the bus 2121.Transmission media may also take the form of acoustic or light waves,such as those generated during radio wave and infrared datacommunications.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying outone or more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 2120 forexecution. For example, the instructions may initially be carried on amagnetic disk of a remote computer. The remote computer may load theinstructions for implementing all or a portion of the present inventionremotely into dynamic memory and send the instructions over a telephoneline using a modem. A modem local to the computer system 2110 mayreceive the data on the telephone line and use an infrared transmitterto convert the data to an infrared signal. An infrared detector coupledto the bus 2121 may receive the data carried in the infrared signal andplace the data on the bus 2121. The bus 2121 carries the data to thesystem memory 2130, from which the processor 2120 may retrieve andexecute the instructions. The instructions received by the system memory2130 may optionally be stored on storage device 2141 or 2142 eitherbefore or after execution by processor 2120.

The computing environment 2100 may further include the computer system2120 operating in a networked environment using logical connections toone or more remote computers, such as remote computer 2180. Remotecomputer 2180 may be a personal computer (laptop or desktop), a mobiledevice, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other commonnetwork node, and typically includes many or all of the elementsdescribed above relative to computer 2110. The logical connectionsdepicted in FIG. 27 include local area network (LAN) 2171 and wide areanetwork (WAN) 2173, but may also include other networks. Such networkingenvironments may be common in offices, enterprise-wide computernetworks, intranets, and the Internet. Communications may occur via hardwired and/or wireless means.

When used in a LAN networking environment, computer 2110 may beconnected to LAN 2171 through network interface 2170. When used in a WAN2173 networking environment, computer 2110 may include modem 2172 forestablishing communications over WAN 2173, such as the Internet. Modem2172 may be connected to system bus 2121 via user input interface 2160,or other appropriate mechanism.

As shown, the computer system 2110 may include a communication interface2175 coupled to the bus 2121. The communication interface 2175 providesa two-way data communication coupling to a network link 2171, 2173 thatis connected to, for example, a local area network (LAN) 2171, or toanother communications network 2173, such as the Internet. For example,the communication interface 2175 may be a network interface card toattach to any packet switched LAN. As another example, the communicationinterface 2175 may be an asymmetrical digital subscriber line (ADSL)card, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card or a modem toprovide a data communication connection to a corresponding type ofcommunications line. Wireless links may also be implemented. In any suchimplementation, the communication interface 2175 sends and receiveselectrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals that carry digital datastreams representing various types of information.

Computer 2110 or other client device can be deployed as part of acomputer network. In this regard, various embodiments pertain to anycomputer system having any number of memory or storage units, and anynumber of applications and processes occurring across any number ofstorage units or volumes. An embodiment may apply to an environment withserver computers and client computers deployed in a network environment,having remote or local storage. An embodiment may also apply to astandalone computing device, having programming language functionality,interpretation and execution capabilities.

As described herein, the various systems, subsystems, agents, managers,and processes can be implemented using hardware components, softwarecomponents, and/or combinations thereof.

The World Wide Web, commonly referred to as the Web, is a system ofinterlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. With a webbrowser, one can view web pages that may contain text, images, videos,text over video, and other multimedia and navigate between them by usinghyperlinks. The terms Internet and World Wide Web are often used inevery-day speech without much distinction. However, the Internet and theWorld Wide Web are not one and the same. The Internet is a global systemof interconnected computer networks, while the Web is one of theservices that run on the Internet. The web is a collection ofinterconnected documents and other resources, linked by hyperlinks andURLs. As such, the Web is an application running on the Internet.Viewing a web page on the World Wide Web normally begins either bytyping the URL of the page into a web browser, or by following ahyperlink to that page or resource. The web browser then initiates aseries of communication messages, behind the scenes, in order to fetchand display it.

For example, the server-name portion of the URL is resolved into an IPaddress using the global, distributed Internet database known as theDomain Name System (DNS). This IP address is necessary to contact theWeb server. The browser then requests the resource by sending an HTTPrequest to the Web server at that particular address. In the case of atypical web page, the HTML text of the page is requested first andparsed immediately by the web browser, which then makes additionalrequests for images and any other files that complete the page image.

While receiving these files from the web server, browsers mayprogressively render the page onto the screen as specified by its HTML,Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), or other page composition languages. Anyimages and other resources are incorporated to produce the on-screen webpage that the user sees. Most web pages contain hyperlinks to otherrelated pages and perhaps to downloadable files, source documents,definitions and other web resources. Such a collection of useful,related resources, interconnected via hypertext links is dubbed a web ofinformation.

Embodiments of the present invention may provide the ability to allowand facilitate targeting of online political advertisements. The presentinventions allows candidates and PACs to communicate rapidly andregularly with registered voters, or segments of voters.

The rise of mass media, particularly television media, has given theincumbents a comparative advantage over PACs and newcomers incommunicating with the people. While incumbents can employ the resourcesof franking and press coverage, newcomers often lack the institutionalresources to compete with incumbents. The present invention may beappropriate for use by candidates and causes. Candidates are peoplerunning for or seeking political office. Causes may take various forms,such as for example, advocacy groups, such as PACs, non-profits,environmental groups, public affairs, commercial clients, lobbyinggroups, and the like.

Although the invention has been described with reference to exemplaryembodiments, it is not limited thereto. For example, while the personsurfing the web in many of these examples is presumed to be a voter,other types of users can be used in these examples. While thedemographic information is described with an emphasis on politicalinformation, other demographic information may be used in certainembodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerouschanges and modifications may be made to the preferred embodiments ofthe invention and that such changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from the true spirit of the invention. It is thereforeintended that the appended claims be construed to cover all suchequivalent variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of theinvention.

1. A method for targeting messages to voters comprising the steps of:receiving a plurality of first records for a first group of voters, eachincluding political demographic information associated with a firstvoter; determining the likely identity of the first voter browsing afirst website; creating a cookie that correlates a browser of the firstvoter to at least a subset of the political demographic informationassociated with the first voter using a processor; sending the cookie tothe browser of the first voter across the internet, wherein the cookieis configured to allow subsequent association of the politicaldemographic information with the browser at a second website.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising the step of causing anadvertisement to be transmitted to the browser when the cookie isdetected at the second website.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the step of determining if the political demographicinformation associated with the cookie matches as selected demographiccriteria to determine whether to bid on an advertisement impression. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein a unique identifier of the cookie cannotbe used to determine the identity of the first voter.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising creating a record of the cookie in a secondgroup of records that can be shared with other partners to determinewhich browsers correspond to selected demographic criteria.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the subset of the political demographicinformation includes a political party associated with the first voter.7. The method of claim 6, wherein the subset of the politicaldemographic information includes at least one voting district associatedwith the first voter.
 8. A method for displaying a message to potentialvoters comprising the steps of: receiving information from a browserthat includes at least one cookie identifier that correlates a first setof political demographic information associated with a likely identityof a user of the browser with the browser; receiving a second set ofpolitical demographic information that includes information fortargeting advertisements to potential voters; comparing the first andthe second sets of political demographic information to determine aresponsive set of cookies that match the second set of politicaldemographic criteria; receiving a request to serve an ad impression tothe browser; and requesting, automatically using a processor, display ofan ad impression to the browser if at least one of the cookies is amongthe responsive set of cookies.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein thesecond set of political demographic information includes at least onepolitical district.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the first set ofpolitical demographic information includes at least at a political partyassociated with the likely identity of the user.
 11. The method of claim8, further comprising automatically generating, using the processor, abid for the right to display the ad impression.
 12. A method fortargeting a message to selected potential voters comprising the stepsof: providing an electronic map interface configured to allow a user toselect political demographic criteria to define a target group ofvoters; determining a subset of registered voters in a database that arepart of the target group; selecting a message to display to the subsetof voters; and automatically requesting electronic display the messageto users of a group of electronic devices who have a likely identity ofone of the voters in the subset of voters.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein the step of automatically requesting electronic display of amessage comprises requesting display of an advertisement to a subset ofcable, IPTV, mobile or satellite TV subscribers whose household includesat least one member that is in the subset of voters.
 14. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the step of automatically requesting electronicdisplay of the message comprises bidding on ad impressions to bedisplayed on an electronic device associated with at least one memberthat is in the subset of voters.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein thestep of automatically requesting electronic display of the messagecomprises requesting display of the message as an ad impression on anelectronic device, which is coupled to a cable, satellite or mobilenetwork and associated with at least one member that is in the subset ofvoters.
 16. The method of claim 12, wherein a user of a browser on oneof the group of electronic devices is identified as matching selecteddemographic criteria based on at least one tracking cookie placed on thebrowser.
 17. The method of claim 12, wherein the electronic mapinterface allows a user to select the political party affiliation ofvoters to target with the message.
 18. The method of claim 12, whereinthe electronic map interface allows a user to select at least oneelectoral criterion, voting geography and associated media networkgeographies.
 19. A method for targeting a message to selected potentialvoters comprising the steps of: receiving a request for displaying oneor more advertisements to a group of individuals, the request includingselected political demographic criteria to define the group;determining, via a processor, a subset of electronic records of adatabase that match the selected political demographic criteria;identifying at least one electronic device associated with the subset ofelectronic records; and transmitting the one or more advertisements tothe electronic device.
 20. The method of claim 18, further comprisingbidding on an ad exchange for ad impressions associated with a browserrunning on the electronic device.
 21. The method of claim 18, whereinthe step of identifying at least one electronic device associated withthe subset of electronic records is performed by a cable provider andthe electronic device is associated with at least one cable subscriber.22. The method of claim 18, wherein the electronic device is a set topbox associated with at least one household and is configured to displaylive TV to viewers in the household.